Controversial Columbia University professor Joseph Massad is scheduled to teach a spring semester class on the history of Zionism, only a short time after he praised the Oct. 7 attack, Breitbart reported on Thursday.
Massad, who is a Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African studies professor, will teach a spring 2025 class called "Palestinian and Israeli Politics and Societies." The course has ignited controversy due to Massad's past advocacy for the destruction of Isreal and his comments on the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, during which 1,200 Israeli citizens were murdered by Hamas terrorists.
Massad published an article in the Electonic Intifada in which he called the attacks a "stunning victory of the Palestinian resistance over the Israeli military."
In December, students created a petition calling on the university to remove Massad. In response, over 300 students, faculty, alumni, and Columbia affiliates signed their own letter condemning the "incendiary and defamatory petition" and expressing their "unflinching admiration" for Massad's scholarship. The original petition has almost 80,000 signatures as of Thursday.
One professor has resigned as a result of Massad's pending course. School International and Public Affairs professor Lawrence "Muzzy" Rosenblatt announced earlier in the week that by allowing the class to proceed, the university has soiled its reputation.
"Over the past 15 months I stayed to teach because I believe the Institution was not aligned with the hateful and destructive values of some who teach and study here, and that by staying I would not be ceding the Academy to those who spew evil, but instead be a model for thoughtful, responsible and professional learning," Rosenblatt wrote in a Facebook post, reported the Columbia Spectator. "However, the institution of Columbia, in officially sanctioning this class and this professor, has harmed the Academy it once was."
In August, then-Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned after she was unable to stem to growing tide of antisemitism on campus.
"However, it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community. This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community," she wrote in a letter to the Columbia community.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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